


When Our Eyes Met

by shairan



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Post-War, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Elves, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 22:46:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18678862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shairan/pseuds/shairan
Summary: Changkyun is ten when he first sees an Elf.****changki in a soulmate au, post-war, with mythical creatures.





	When Our Eyes Met

**Author's Note:**

> hello !  
> it was supposed to be a gift for someone i held really close to my heart. i started writing it almost 2 years ago.
> 
> i didn't know if i should delete it, or not. it took me one year to make a decision.
> 
> now, it's a story i really want to post, for the fandom and for me. :)
> 
> the story is crossposted on aff, as usual.
> 
> hope you'll like it.
> 
> please note that english isn't my native language, and that i beta-read my own texts.
> 
> don't hesitate to leave comments, it really gives me more strenght to write.

2050.

In a world where only profit mattered, another World War occurred.

At first it was a war between humans; but soon the existence of what they called a “magical land” and “mystical creatures” was confirmed.  
  
It appeared that few Elves from royal bloodline were ruling this land.  
For centuries, they used their magical power for it to be imperceptible to the human eye.  
  
_Because Humans destroy everything they touch, even themselves._  
  
However, the weapons used by humans started to alter the barrier. These weapons of mass destruction initiated little but noticeable damage to the biosphere of the magical land.  
  
That’s when Royal Elves knew they had to do something or else their kingdom would be taken by surprise.  
  
They ordered their army to fight and removed the spell of imperceptibility on them, making the battle less unfair for Humans.  
  
Nonetheless, magic was used, and things got out of control.

_  
Desolation, death, destruction._

  
What took centuries to be built, took one second to be destroyed.

The loss was considerable for both clans, although Humans were clearly the ones suffering the most.  
  
The damage was so bad that both parties finally agreed to a truce, that’s when Royal Elves revealed the name of their land (Morlakërn), and also when the Great Line was born.  
  
At first, it was a tiny barrier made of barbed wire that no one was allowed to cross.  
  
When the Human race started to rise from its ashes, the line became a wall of 190 cm, made of concrete and stones.  
  
Morlakërn and its citizens didn’t want to use these materials and preferred woods, grass, stones and damp, but the Human party didn’t agree.  
   
The latter claimed that if they used these materials, the wall wouldn’t be solid enough to dissuade a human from crossing it.  
  
In the end the magical land conceded, although it was against its beliefs, in order to maintain a semblance of peace.  
                         
The two clans established together a law concerning the Great Wall as well : It was officially forbidden to cross it and people who would do otherwise didn’t risk jail.  
However, by the moment they crossed the wall, they were on their own: whatever happened to them was no one’s responsibility.  
  
The Human clan wouldn’t conduct any investigation if a human was found dead outside their frontier.  
The clan even stated that having a proper burial would be considered as a privilege in such circumstances.  
  
The rules were the same for magical creatures, if they dared to cross the wall but in practice, the fear of another war was enough for everyone to know their place.  
  
The same question was in everyone's mouth in Morlakërn : Why didn't the Royal Elves use their magic to make their land imperceptible again ?  
It was a question the royalty never answered, which started to make the creatures rather suspicious. However, they still believed in their leaders  
and dealt with the situation, not really afraid of humans.

As time passed, a New Order emerged in the human side.  
40 years later schools, banks, everything had been rebuilt but under different rules.  
  
The Human population living there was believed to be the only one left on this planet. ** _  
  
_**That’s why a ruler had been designed by popular vote, as well as a government.  
Voters’ criteria mostly rested upon the amount of efforts the candidate did for the common good, and how they had contributed to the construction of the town.  
  
It required a lot of trust from Humans to vote again for a leader, and an assembly.  
That’s why member of the government and their family made sure that they weren’t too privileged.  
  
Of course, they had access to more resources and had more free time than the rest of the citizens.  
However, a lot trusted they would not be abusing from it.  
  
The population suggested to rename the town they had all built with sweat, blood and pain.  
After many heated discussions, it was settled : The official name was “Neolica”.  
  
Neolica’s prominent colors were grey, black and orange, mostly because a lot of things there were still under construction.  
  
Most televisions got destroyed during the war, and the spared ones got confiscated by the government in order to avoid conflicts.  
  
If a Neolican wanted to watch TV, they still had the possibility to go to the city hall and pay a modest sum to enjoy one round, which lasted 30 minutes.  
  
Nonetheless, this round was supervised: every individual had a limit of two rounds per day and the room containing the seats and the television was under high surveillance.  
  
News and national information were mostly shared through papers.  
By miracle, few printers got spared in the war, allowing humans to still write and read.  
  
A lot of famous papers belonged to the past, as nobody could take on their publications.  
In response, the remaining writers created new ones, but weren’t able to offer a great variety of them.  
  
Mostly because there weren’t enough writers for this, but also because Neolicans still didn’t have the transportation required to travel safely, a long way off.  
  
That’s why a lot of humoristic papers appeared, hoping to lighten the mood that the War had left in the town.  
  
Neolica’s economy wasn’t solely based on profit, as it had almost always been the case in the past, though this notion was still taken into consideration.  
   
Cultural reconstruction was considered an important piece of the new human society, that’s why Research Department, along with a Science one, were built rather fast.  
  
Most researches were done to reconstruct a narrative of what happened during the Third World War, but few ones were also conducted to retrieve all the gems created by the Human Race who were nowhere to be seen.  
  
Being a researcher in Neolica was a very hard, challenging but satisfying and well-paid job.  
Researchers were often sent on mission in places that weren’t totally safe for an human being, and it wasn’t rare to hear or read in papers that some of them were gone missing for years.  
  
Consequently, most Humans didn’t feel like going outside the town, and even less in Morlakërn.  
  
The creatures of the magical land felt the same about Neolica, although Humans had no way to know it.  
   
Despite this reality, few of them were living there and had to face discrimination.  
  
They weren’t really accepted because of their abilities and were restricted to work in the Science Department.  
  
Nobody knew why they had come here in the first place; however, it wasn’t a secret that they were under high surveillance.

Every human was aware that some creatures had magical power and it made them feel insecure.  
  
A lot of citizen of Neolica still thought that creatures living there were spies trying to gather information, all this to dominate them later.

The memory of this war was still carved in everyone’s hearts, making people and creatures rather suspicious of each other.

* * *

  
Changkyun is ten when he first sees an Elf.  
  
He was playing hide-and-seek with his best-friend Hoseok – whose nickname was Wonho – and he was the one to have to look for him.  
He hated to do this but he had lost at rock, paper, scissors earlier.  
  
He knew Wonho liked to play near the wall, because he absolutely wanted to see an elf.  
  
Changkyun didn’t get why, but his friend apparently did a lot of research about Elves despite his young age. He said that he wanted to get to know them.  
He really cared about this, and although he never told him why, he could sense that his friend felt like he had a mission to complete.  
  
That’s why Changkyun went close to the Great Wall, screaming his friend’s name, hoping that he would find him fast.

Despite Wonho most likely being is best friend, he never knew what the latter was up to. That’s why he wanted to check on the other side as well.

  
It was 5 pm and the weather was very hot today, all he wanted to do was going home and drink a full glass of water.

Hurriedly, he piled few stones up along the wall, going back and forth to carry them because of their weight.  
  
Then, he climbed onto one stone which allowed him to see beyond the wall.

Scanning the area, the kid remembered his mother’s words.

  
« Don’t go beyond the wall, Changkyun. Elves hates Humans. They could kill you just because you’re a little human. So please, promise me you won’t go there. »

But he was just a kid, a curious one on top of that, and hanging out with Wonho started to trigger more and more his interest in Elves: how they looked like, how they lived and their traditions.  
  
The few creatures living in Neolica weren’t Elves, so it triggered his curiosity and those of other citizens even more.  
  
Some people said they looked like fairies, with large ears, bright wings and long hair.  
Others said they had no hair, long arms, a tanned skin and were as gracious as a cat.

And others said-  
  
His eyes landed on two dark orbs, sharp as a knife.  
  
He blinked and then realized that they belonged to a creature he had never seen before. He wasn’t sure whether it was an elf or not, but he sure knew he wasn’t looking at a human.  
  
The seemingly non-human being was staring at him as well, from the other side of the wall.  
  
Changkyun thought that “it” looked like a boy, and that maybe he was the same age as him.  
He had soft features and bright pink hair, which surprised the human kid who had jet-black hair.  
  
His eyes drifted to other being’s ears, and he could only observe that the legends were true: Elf had quite recognizable ears, although the ones he was seeing right now weren’t that big, yet.  
  
He was pretty sure it was an Elf because of this detail.  
  
He didn’t even dare to breathe at this moment, too afraid the Elf would run away.  
Changkyun couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him at the moment.  
  
He would often play near the wall with Wonho, and it was the first time he saw one.  
  
He felt very luck and was so excited to tell his friend everything, a bubble of pride starting to emerge in his stomach.  
  
Changkyun wanted to say something like “Hello”, but his mouth was stuck.  
  
He let a frantic sigh come out from his mouth before waving at him. However, as soon as he did this, the other being flee.  
The little human wanted to tell him to wait but it was too late.  
  
Slowly coming back down to earth, he decided to resume his search and tell everything to Wonho.

* * *

   
Changkyun is 19 when he sees him again.

The young man was sitting on a bench near the wall, nonchalantly smoking a cigarette.  
  
“Cigarettes of the new world” (as Neolicans liked to call them) were pricy and had an awful taste of petrol and coffee, two of the rare resources they still had access to.  
  
He didn’t care though. He liked this taste of bitterness invading his mouth, because sadly it resonated with his own.  
  
He never forgot his encounter with the Elf. He remember telling Wonho about what he had witnessed, and Wonho not wanting to believe him at first.  
His best friend eventually considered believing him when Changkyun was still talking about this, one year later.  
  
They never stopped going near that wall but, they never saw neither the Elf nor any kind of magical creature, again.  
  
Day-dreaming, the young adult expelled the smoke out of his mouth and was about to get up, when he heard a sound.  
  
He immediately walked towards the source of the sound, getting closer to the wall.  
  
Then, he used few stones who lied around and climbed on top of them, bending his head on the other side of the wall.  
  
What he saw exceeded all his expectations : an Elf sat cross-legged on the ground, grazing the grass with his hands.

He knew it was him.  
He didn’t know if pink hair were a common feature amongst elves, but he couldn’t be mistaken.  
  
It was, after all, the first and only elf he had ever seen in his life.  
  
An inexplicable and loud feeling grew into his chest, and he could feel his whole body aching for contact with the Elf.  
  
What was he supposed to do? Approach him?

Maybe yes, since the pink-haired one just lifted his head up and was now looking straight at him.  
  
Changkyun recognized them, these dark orbs he had seen ten years ago.

Yes, it was him.

He scanned the Elf’s face and only deciphered tenderness and peace in his features.  
  
His black eyes, wearing long eyelashes, were beautifully stretched. They contrasted with his pale skin and his now vivid pink hair.  
His lips were thin but full at the same time, and freckles sprinkled across the bridge of his nose.

Art itself had become ironically a dying art in Neolica, and seeing this elf was like, looking at a very rare piece of art.  
The Elf’s whole being was enough to leave him in awe and make his heart flutter.  
  
He didn’t realize he was staring at his face until he felt a sharp burn in his fingers, his cigarette about to be entirely consumed.  
A yelp escaped his mouth and he pressed the remaining poison on the wall.  
  
The Elf smiled at his gesture, revealing a perfectly lined-up range of teeth.

Changkyun lifted his head and couldn’t help but smile in turn.

He really wanted to cross the wall. He didn’t feel threatened at all by the other’s presence.  
In fact, something about the Elf made him feel...safe? It was hard to explain.  
  
However, the human wasn’t naïve at all.  
He knew that what he was about to do was considered as trespassing and that, if his life was in danger, he couldn’t count on anyone but himself.  
  
He wasn’t sure other Elves would react as peacefully as the one he had in front of him, if they saw him in their land.

 _Elves hate Humans._  
  
  
Damn, he didn’t even know if Elves could speak his language.  
He was on his own.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Changkyun almost jumped in surprise.

 _“Elves did know how to speak English?”_ he thought. _“How many times must have lived this one to know how to speak English?”_  
  
And also, why was he already falling in love with the voice?  
  
For now, he just had to play it cool.

“I’m not.” he retorted.   
  
He might have sound harsher than intended, he knew it was one of his bad habit.  
  
“Why aren’t you climbing then?” the Elf answered, his voice dripping with irony.

“Maybe because I don’t want to?” he made his best to keep his voice steady, his hands starting to shake a little. He was getting very, very nervous and it showed.

“That’s weird enough,” the pink-haired man continued, making few steps forward. “It seems to me like you’re still weighing up the pros and cons. Am I right?”  
  
A loud silence settled between them, and the Elf observed intensely his interlocutor, gauging for a reaction.

“What is weird enough is the fact that you actually know how to speak English.” Changkyun said, cowardly ignoring his whole sentence.

“Why? Because I’m an Elf?” he asked, slightly irritated.  “Well, for your information Elves have been there for way longer time than Humans.  
We’re not uncouth you know.”

Changkyun would have slapped himself if he was alone.  
He never intended to put him down or make fun of him...he was just being too much of an out speaker.  
  
He was also so nervous, he felt like he was going to explode.

“That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry.” the dark-haired one apologized, bowing slightly.

“It’s okay.” the other answered, after few seconds. “I’m Kihyun, an Elf and a boy, in case you wondered.  
Nice to meet you, although you’ve been a jerk.” he added, smiling.

Changkyun refrained his chuckle, feeling spotted at this moment.  
   
He hoped the said-Kihyun didn’t understood the gender thing because of the way he had looked at him.  
  
“I’m Changkyun, a human, and a boy too.” he responded, slightly embarrassed. “Nice to meet you.”  
  
He had made a decision at this point, encouraged by their little chat.  
He climbed the wall, his heartbeat beating faster, and landed unbothered on his feet to the Elf surprise.  
  
He walked forward, until they were close enough and offered his right hand to him.  
The latter didn’t take it at first, but ended up shaking it slightly.

Suddenly, a voice resonated in his head.

_“What is done, is done.”  
_

The dark-haired young man nearly had a heart attack, again.  
  
It was Kihyun’s voice, but his lips didn't move an inch, he was pretty sure of that.

 _“Ah, yeah,”_ he thought. _“Telepathy must be one of his power.”_

“Wanna see something else than grey buildings?” Kihyun asked, ignoring the human’s confusion.  
  
He didn’t have to say it twice, the other immediately accepted. He started to walk away from the wall, followed by Changkyun.  
  
“What will happen to me there?” he inquired, still not fully reassured.

“Nothing, while I’m here. I don’t recommend going there on your own though, can be dangerous for a human.”

“Trust me, I won’t. I know the story.” he answered, looking nervously at the woods facing him.  
  
He only got to see them from afar and not that much since buildings and the wall itself were hiding the vegetation outside their frontier.  
He would sit with Wonho on plains, to look at the horizon.  
   
He knew people who were twice his age and had never been there; and probably would never in their entire life.

That’s exactly why he felt excited and anxious at the same time.

“Be careful from here. There are few big holes here, made by animals such as moles.” Kihyun warned.  
“Also, don’t pay attention to the weird noises you may hear.”

He looked at him without a word, agreeing silently.

The Elf walked first in the woods and his ears quickly twitched, as if it recognized something.  
  
Maybe they twitch this way when he is happy?  Changkyun thought.  
  
He found it very cute but refrained his thought, realizing he didn’t know much about Elves.

After a five minutes’ walk, they entered the heart of the forest and his heart stopped to beat.

The woods looked like nothing he had seen before: Gargantuan, naturally green and made of golden-brown spaces.

The sunlight was being filtered by the branches of giant trees and the sky looked like it was papered with golden leaves.  
  
Several rays of light still reached the brown ground though and Changkyun could discern golden-tainted particles floating in the air.

 _“Magical”_ and _“Dreamy”_ were the only adjectives that came into his mind to describe this place.

The woods were full of life, full of animals he had never seen outside of a screen, or a book ** _._**  
  
And this air; it was so different of the one his lungs were used to.  
This one was fresh and smelled woody. It was so invigorating, inhaling here was like being purified.

The human took a deep breath, eyelids shut, releasing a sigh of pure contentment that didn’t went unnoticed by the Elf, who lightly chuckled.

“Like what you see?” Kihyun asked, smiling.

“You can’t imagine.” Changkyun answered, as he slowly opened his eyes. “It’s just...unbelievable.”

Kihyun’s smile grew wider, especially when he looked through the human’s eyes, and saw a light as bright as the one currently illuminating the woods.

He sat on a tree trunk and gestured beside him, inviting the Human to sit.  
The latter nodded and sit as requested before contemplating the landscape, once more.  
  
“Are humans really not aware of here?” the Elf asked, not smiling anymore.

“Yes, most of them don’t.” The other answered. “They don’t know a thing about this. I know that books about your civilization exist, wrote by Humans,  
but almost all of them got destroyed during the war. Only a few of them still exists, and they aren’t particularly…flattering.”

“I’m not really surprised…” Kihyun answered. “How about the ones that creatures living there wrote?” he inquired.

“I don’t really know. Besides, I don’t think they will ever be published, sadly.” Changkyun answered.

“I see. Maybe one day things will change for them, but if it does, it won’t be before your government change”

“Yeah, you’re right.” he agreed. “Most humans just don’t care though. The more important thing for everyone back there is to be safe, to have something to eat and where to sleep, comfortably.”

“You can’t really hold a grunge against them for this.”

“I don’t. I just wish people would stop being that fearful against the magical world. They’re all treating the unknow like shit.” Chankgyun started,

“As human, you can't talk about even wanting to study magical creatures without being accused of wanting another World War.  
And then, you’re being considered as a shame for the ‘race’.”  
  
He stopped for few seconds, realizing he was raising his voice on the person he was talking to, although he didn’t want to.  
  
Then, he picked his talk up again.  
  
“Sorry, I can’t stay calm when I’m talking about this” he apologized. “What these people seem to forget is that Elves didn’t end the world in the first place.”

“It’s okay” Kihyun reassured. “You have a good point. It’s surprising, coming from you.”

“Why? Because I’m human?” he was proud of the reference he was making and hoped the other being would get it.

“Ha. Funny.” Kihyun countered, although he couldn’t prevent a smile to reach his lips.  
“But yes, because you’re human. It’s just that…I was convinced everyone there saw us as shit, not worthy of any rights.”

“I can’t understand your realities.” the human started, “To be honest, they’re pretty discriminant about magical creatures.  
I only have one friend because of that. I can’t stand those doing it or saying nothing about it. He’s the only one who openly shares the same opinion than me.”

“Oh...I’m sorry.”

Kihyun looked so apologetic right now that Changkyun felt bad for telling him this particular fact.

“Don’t be sorry. I don’t really care. I should be the one apologizing to you”

“It’s okay.”  
  
 “Okay…” Changkyun seemed to think about something. “Do you mind me asking you few questions? If you don’t want to, I’d completely understand.”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t mind. I will ask you few questions about Humans too. You guys looks weird” the other responded, making Changkyun chuckle, once more.

“Okay.” the human boy pretended to think before asking, “Does your ears grow higher every year?”

“What!? Of course, no!” Kihyun deadpanned. “It depends. It’s not something random.”

“Oh? How is it decided then?”

“You don’t really need to know about the meaning for the time being” Kihyun answered, cut to the quick.

“I’m sorry...” Changkyun apologized. “I'm sorry if I hurt you with my questions. That’s really something I’ve wondered for quite a long time, but I should have been more cautious.”

The Elf stayed silent for very long minutes, his eyes closed but his lips twitching in a weird way, as if he was holding back a laugh.

“Look, I’m sorry!”

Kihyun still didn’t utter a sound and Changkyun really started to panic.  
  
The pink-haired one felt it and decided to answer.

“Maybe one day, I’ll tell you…or not. Your face is just too funny.” Then, he busted into laughter.

“Liar.” Changkyun chuckled.

“Human.” Kihyun countered.

“I don’t even feel affected by your low insults”

They both laughed at the human’s words.  
  
Changkyun’s laugh seemed like the sweetest melody Kihyun had ever heard in his entire life.  
  
They talked for the first time only few hours ago and yet, they were talking and joking as if they had always known each other.  
  
And this feeling...this brand-new feeling. He didn’t know what it meant.


End file.
